Customer Reviews

THE MYSTERY OF THE SEA.

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For fans of Bram Stoker this is an excellent mystery. The reader is transported back to Aberdeen, Scotland after the destruction of the American battle ship the "Maine." Here the reader is witness to a consuming mystery involving the supernatural and a world in political upheavel. As usual Stoker's character's shine, particularly the heroine Marjorey. This tell of supernaturarl intrigue will keep you entralled and eager to read more of this wonderful and underappreciated author's work.

THE MYSTERY OF THE SEA (1902) is a combination adventure, romance, mystery, and fantasy. It is an exciting and engaging story, and is a great example of the quality and power of Stoker's writing. While at times gets somewhat bogged down in peripheral details, it is still one of my favorite overlooked classics.

Wonderful characters, including Archie Hunter, Marjory Drake, and Gormala, carry this story. They demand your attention and your admiration, and you can't help but to get involved in their story as they go through the adventure of a lifetime. Marjory and Archie's developing love is subtle but powerful, as the two timid individuals turn into a powerful couple. Archie's obsession with Marjory is realistically portrayed and watching his emotional roller-coaster as he wins her love makes for great reading. Their adventures together to find lost treasure and defeat the evil kidnappers are well told and just plain enjoyable to read.

One of the things Stoker is most well-known for is his ability to bring his settings to life with history and local color. This novel demonstrates this ability wonderfully. Taking place on the shores of Scotland during the Spanish American War, THE MYSTERY OF THE SEA is really able to get the reader involved with detailed descriptions of landscapes, climate, local accents, and customs. The political intrigue found here is asumedly an accurate portrayal of the times, with hostilities high between the various powers of the world. One thing that you do not get here is a dose of Stoker's otherwise frequent sexism. While Marjory might not be a 'New Woman' in the strictest sense, she certainly displays many admirable traits such as courage, independence, intelligence, and strength. Besides the obvious Dracula, she might be my favorite character in all Stoker's work.

My only real complaint about this book is the remarkable absence of Archie's fantastic ability of 'second-sight' for the middle 5/6 of the book. While I enjoy reading about decoding bilateral ciphers and about the characters' developing love, I really got drawn in by the mysterious powers displayed in the beginning of the book, and found myself missing the unknown for much of the middle part. Luckily, it all comes back towards the ending for an incredibly exciting finish.

Recommended for fans of Stoker and fans of well-written adventure/romance/mystery/fantasy.

Archibald Hunter was spending his annual vacation in Cruden Bay, Scotland when he sees two women and a man walking abreast. Suddenly, he has a vision of the man carrying a coffin and the two women walking behind. Just as suddenly, he sees the three walking normal again. Very odd.

As this was happening, Archie was being watched by an old woman, Gormala. She had seen Archie's shocked look at what he had just seen and tells him that he has the gift (if you can call it that) of "Second Sight". This means he can see the future, and that the next day he will find out what his vision meant.

Sure enough, the next day Archie finds out that the child of two of the adults he saw walking had drowned. A series of "Second Sight" visions follow including the death of an accomplished seaman by drowning in the often rough Cruden Bay near the rock formations known as the Skares and the vision of a procession of ghosts spanning hundreds of years of seaman who have drowned in the Skares. At the end of this procession is the latest victim who Archie is presently carrying to Whinnyfold after failing to save him. His death was predetermined, and no one could have saved him. As Gormala states: "Am I to wark against the Fates when They have spoken! The Dead are dead indeed when the Voice has whispered in their ears".

Archie loves the area around Cruden Bay and is building a house on the cliff overlooking the Skares. One day, he spots two women in trouble and he rushes in to save them. One woman, the younger of the two, ends up being Archie's love, Marjory Drake. Marjory is an American on the run from a Spanish group (the story takes place during the Spanish American War and Marjory, a rich heiress who greatly helped the U.S. fight the war against Spain).

To help furnish his new house, Archie purchases an old oak chest from an auctioneer. In this chest are very old, yellowed, papers written in an odd cipher code. Being curious, Archie--and later Marjory--undertake the task of deciphering the code. Once they do, they find that it leads to a treasure buried in the area over 300 years ago by the Spanish Armada.

Archie and Marjory embark on an effort to find this treasure and along the way experience the adventure of a lifetime, and find that true love conquers all.

"The Mystery of the Sea" is a terrific book written by a true master. It may not reach the heights of "Dracula" (which I give 5 WaterTowers), but, it is a wonderful adventure mystery mixing information about ciphers and codes, romance, and the supernatural.

Written and published in 1902, five years after "Dracula," Bram Stoker's "The Mystery of the Sea" would intrigue most academics studying his works, but I don't think readers in general would be attracted to this obscure book's adventures as they are to the dark castle of the Count.

The basic plot looks like a John Buchan tale. "The Mystery" centers around one Archibald Hunter, who saves the life of one American girl Marjory. They are destined for some perilous adventures before falling love with each other. Despite the insipid personality of the hero/narrator Archibald, there are some interesting traits about the bicycle-riding American heroine, who is obviously treated favorably by the author. She is fiercely independent and patriotic, but this is nothing surprising if you remember one character in "Dracula" and the biographical fact that Stoker admired Walt Whitman.

Though the book contains many episodes describing their adventures (in dark caverns or in the stormy sea, for example) and some of them have interesting ideas (like codes and ciphers), Stoker fails to paint an exciting pictures of them, not knowing how to arrange them in the right order. Almost all the detective/spy story elements in "The Mystery of the Sea" is no mystery, too abstract and generic.

The book also has supernatural aspects, something like "second sight," fleeting visions that predict the future, which the hero sees. The device does not work as it should, however, because of Stoker's whimsical use of this device (reminding us of Mina's telepathy in "Dracula," which is more effective). Actually the book has much less supernatural factors than in his "The Jewel of Seven Stars" which is I think a better work.

The book opens with some intriguing concepts, and then the story flounders, not knowing where to go in the middle part. The book finally gets thrilling in the concluding chapters, but as a whole "The Mystery of the Sea" is a reminder that Stoker is, and will be remembered as the writer of one book named "Dracula."